WINTER 2016 RISK MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES HUMAN CAPITAL. Wisdom at Work.

Transcription

1 WINTER 2016 RISK MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES HUMAN CAPITAL Wisdom at Work.

2 CLIENT SPOTLIGHT FROM THE COVER Above the Fold 150 The Omaha World-Herald Turns SILVERLINK W I N T E R

3 Back when Omaha was a frontier steamboat landing scratching out a future on the edge of the American West, a physician with ink in his blood launched a newspaper in a tiny brick building above a billiard saloon. In 1865, Dr. George L. Miller cranked out the first editions of the Omaha Daily Herald on a small hand press, using a few cases of type. The newspaper had 53 initial subscribers. Miller s partner kept the books on slips of paper in the pocket of his coat. It was a modest beginning for The World-Herald, a news organization that 150 years later dominates news readership in Nebraska and western Iowa and is the flagship publication of BH Media Group. The Omaha Daily Herald became the Omaha World-Herald when Gilbert Hitchcock bought the newspaper in 1889 and merged it with the Omaha Daily World, which he had started in Through good times and bad, The World-Herald has covered it all: tornadoes and blizzards, droughts and floods, war and peace, heroes and villains, blue ribbons and red stadiums from Buffalo Bill Cody to Alexander Payne, George Norris to Bob Kerrey, Father Flanagan to Rose Blumkin, Chief Standing Bear to Ann Landers and William Jennings Bryan to Tom Osborne. So given such a proud history, what is the future in this new digital age for what may be perceived as an old-fashioned industry? A New Era of Reporting The news industry and The World-Herald are navigating through a revolutionary change in the way information is disseminated. Not long ago, there was one way for a newspaper to reach the public with its news report: ink on paper delivered by carrier, the postal service or purchased at a single copy box or from a merchant. Readers were limited to reading text and viewing still photographs and graphics. SILVERLINK W I N T E R

4 OWH s New Era of Today, The World-Herald delivers news and information not only through ink on paper, but also on desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones via Omaha.com and, most recently, terrestrial radio with video, audio and database deliveries that were never possible for the old newspaper business. Publisher Terry Kroeger says this renaissance has led to record numbers of people reading and viewing The World-Herald content. As Warren Buffett said, We need to be indispensable. Buffett is chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the Omaha-based conglomerate that purchased The World-Herald from its employees in The Buffett acquisition ensured the continuation of uninterrupted local ownership. Buffett soon bought several dozen additional newspapers and combined them with the Omaha World-Herald Co. into a new Berkshire Hathaway division called BH Media Group. Kroeger is also president and CEO of BH Media Group, which publishes 110 newspapers and other titles, with more than 4,500 employees in 10 states. BH Media Group ranks among the 10 largest newspaper groups in the United States. Writing with Purpose Mike Reilly, executive editor of The World-Herald, said the company s nearly 600 employees are proud of the many ways they serve their print readers and their online audience. It s a daily smorgasbord of the important, the interesting and the entertaining. We help you make sense of Syria, ConAgra and Mayor Jean Stothert, Reilly said. We cover your Huskers like they are the NFL s elite. We tell you about the best restaurants, the worst movies and the cool bands you ve never heard of. We help you shop for cars and groceries. We get you news online right now and we deliver it tomorrow regardless of sleet or snow. SILVERLINK WINTER 2016

5 The World-Herald s biggest value to its subscribers, and to the community and region as a whole, is its role as a watchdog Turning the Page Kroeger acknowledges that the newspaper industry did a poor for decades because it is still perceived by many young and old as a necessity and a luxury to spend a little time catching The Go-To Source As The World-Herald and BH Media Group continue to be a for the public s interests. We shed light. We spark discussion. job of embracing digital delivery systems when the Internet up on the news of the day as reported and organized by a team reliable and trusted source for the region s news and commentary, We spur improvement, Reilly said. This newspaper targets first became a force in the 1990s. We ve gotten past that and of professional writers, photographers and editors in a way that s SilverStone Group remains committed to helping this organization wrongdoing and wrongheadedness, especially when people s are committed to providing our news, information, advertising, easy to consume. with our expert consulting services. From human capital and lives, livelihoods or well-being are at stake. We aim to protect taxpayer interests and your right to know. We do our best to hold the government accountable, especially when officials choose secrecy over transparency. Fact-based, fair-minded watchdog journalism is neither accidental nor cheap. The World-Herald spends millions of dollars a year and employs more than 150 professional journalists in its nationalaward-winning newsroom, including bureaus in the Nebraska state capital of Lincoln and in Washington, D.C. commentary and entertainment to you in whatever forms you choose, he said. And we will continue to provide all of that for a reasonable subscription price in exchange for access to our team of professional journalists. Kroeger said he is often asked how long newspapers will continue to be printed. My answer: I think we ll see printed newspapers well beyond my lifetime. Certainly, digital access will continue to grow market share and print will decline. We ve seen that in recent years, and it will continue. But just as printed books have We shed light. We spark discussion. We spur improvement, Reilly said. investment services, to group benefits, worksite marketing and defined benefits, SilverStone Group works to support the continued longevity of this publishing mainstay through our resource management services. Here s to another 150 years we congratulate you! THIS ARTICLE WAS DRAWN FROM MATERIAL IN T H E WORLD-HERALD'S RECENT SPECIAL SECTION MARKING ITS 150TH YEAR OF OPERATION. not faded into history, he said, the printed newspaper will endure SILVERLINK WINTER 2016